Easy to reach St. Croix National Scenic Riverway offers diversity of day hiking trails

St. Croix River shoreline near campsites north of Danbury, Wis.

Adventure awaits
in nat. park unit

A quick travel quiz: Name the national park unit where you can lean against 200-year-old trees, feel the splash of a hidden waterfall, retrace the steps of historic portages, watch bald eagle families soar overhead, walk across billion-year-old rock, and pick apples as autumn leaves turn red and golden.

Yosemite National Park? Nope. Yellowstone? Nuh-uh. Cuyahoga Valley? Sorry, still wrong.

The correct answer: The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

Covering more than 250 miles of shoreline, the National Park Service unit straddles the Minnesota-Wisconsin border and includes both the St. Croix and Namekagon rivers. Seven state parks and several state forests, county parks, and nature centers are in the scenic riverway.

Just a few hours’ drive at most for anyone living in Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the scenic riverway’s proximity to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport makes it easier to reach than most national parks. Indeed, the scenic riverway outperforms more than half of all national parks in attendance.

200-year-old trees
Last year, I spent six months hiking 40-plus trails in the riverway as researching my latest book, “Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.” I initially expected to find that every trail was the same: a path through a Northwoods forest with river views. Was I ever wrong.

The St. Croix River begins north of Solon Springs, Wis., where the Bois Brule-St. Croix River Historic Portage Trail runs 4.4-miles round trip. The trail is the same route crossed centuries ago by Daniel Greysolon Sieur duLhut, a French explorer who opened the way for fur traders in the 1680s.

South of there, the St. Croix meets its main tributary, the 101-mile Namekagon River. A plethora of great day hiking trails wind alongside the Namekagon. The Wild Rivers Trail, in Trego, Wis., crosses the waterway on an old railroad bridge near the park service’s Namekagon Visitor Center.

A few miles below the St. Croix-Namekagon confluence is Governor Knowles State Forest. There the Cedar Interpretive Trail heads through a grove of stately eastern white cedar. The cedars that are a foot in diameter were mere saplings during the War of 1812.

Old Man of the Dalles
At Wisconsin Interstate State Park, the Summit Rock Trail climbs to a scenic overlook of the St. Croix River and the Old Man of the Dalles rock formation, which looks like an elderly man’s face. The trail crosses volcanic rock from 1.1 billion year-old lava flows. Families of bald eagles families searching for a meal in the river glide about the summit, sometimes coming within a few feet of hikers.

In nearby St. Croix Falls, Wis., the St. Croix River Visitor Center boasts a 500-gallon aquarium and presents an award-winning film about the riverway. Events featuring authors and artists often are held there.

Day hikers can walk alongside the multi-level Willow River Falls at Willow River State Park east of Hudson, Wis. The rock on the gorge walls’ lowest levels is about 600 million years old.

Apple picking during autumn highlights the stop at the privately-run Carpenter Nature Center. The center sits on the Minnesota side of the riverway close to where the St. Croix flows into the Mississippi River.

Read more about day hiking the scenic riverway in my guidebook Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

Barron County, Wisconsin, hiking guidebook now out in paperback

My recent ebook Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Barron County, Wisconsin is now out in paperback. The book describes more than 40 trails that can be found near Rice Lake, Cumberland, Turtle Lake, Chetek and Cameron, as well as in the surrounding counties of Polk, Washburn, Rusk, Chippewa and Dunn. Among those trail featured are the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, the Wild Rivers Trail, Cattail State Trail, the Tuscobia Trail, and those running through the Blue Hills. The book is available online.

Find out about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Quaint country walk awaits on Wild Rivers

A walk through pleasant woodlands and scenic farmland await users of the Wild Rivers State Trail near Rice Lake, Wis. The trail runs for around 100 miles across three counties on an old Omaha and Soo Line Railroads rail line connecting the city to Superior.

A good place to experience the trail is at its southern end. Park north of the Rice Lake city limits at the Tuscobia State Trail junction on County Road SS, near its intersection with U.S. Hwy. 53. You can head south for about four miles into Rice Lake at West Knapp Street. Arrange to have someone bring you back to where you parked, or turn around at any time on the trail.

Great autumn walk
The parking lot sits east of County Road SS, and you’ll need to take the Tuscobia Trail west across the highway to reach the Wild Rivers Trail. Turn left or south onto the Wild Rivers Trail, which parallels County Road SS into Rice Lake. Turn right, and the trail heads to Haugen, Spooner, Trego, Minong, Gordon, Solon Springs and ends in Superior.

In addition to plenty of parking and its proximity to a major town for an enjoyable meal or shopping afterward, the part of the trail heading south is in excellent shape with compacted gravel making up the surface.

The first half mile or so heads through a typical deciduous forest that Wisconsin is famous for. In autumn, the trail’s varied trees alight in an array of crimson, amber and burnt orange leaves. Upon crossing County Road BB, however, the woods gives way to pretty farm fields that look best when green in August.

Bridge over stream
A little more than two miles later, you can glimpse through the deepening treeline a tributary that ultimately flows into nearby Stump Lake. As the region becomes more wooded, you’ll actually cross the serpentine waterway over a quaint bridge.

Expect to spot white-tailed deer, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks – and if lucky, fox – along the way. Songbirds are plentiful, and hawks soar overhead.

On weekends, anticipate a variety of other users. Mountain bikers, horseback riders and ATVers also frequent the trail. In winter, snowmobilers, cross country skiers and snowshoers all use the route.

The trail grows increasingly urban as reaching 22-1/2 Street with a good end spot at Knapp Street, where you can park your vehicle. Pit toilets are available at the trailhead.

Read more about day hiking Barron County in my Hittin’ the Trail: Day Barron County, Wisconsin guidebook.